I should have made this point, too: Our failure to congestion price our roads really screws up our decisions on increasing capacity.
When roads are congestion-priced, the revenue tells us when we need more capacity. On this, see this (pdf):
One important feature of congestion prices is that they not only discourage usage when congestion is present, but they also generate revenue for capacity expansion. Indeed, it has long been recognized that under certain conditions the optimal congestion prices...
Congestion tolls vs. revenue tolls
I think one thing that confuses people about my support for congestion pricing is that they're not clear what I mean by "congestion pricing." There are two kinds of road tolls. One...
Equal protection for truckers
I've argued before that even if we don't congestion price I-35 for all drivers, we should at least price the road for truckers, which will give them the incentive to take SH 130. Some...
SH 130 vs I-35: early returns
Ben Wear and a colleague have run another experiment comparing SH 130 to I-35. The trip around Austin on SH 130 was 22 minutes faster than the trip straight through town on I-35. This...
SH 130 vs I-35: early returns
Ben Wear and a colleague have run another experiment comparing SH 130 to I-35. The trip around Austin on SH 130 was 22 minutes faster than the trip straight through town on I-35. This...
Let's give truckers the wrong incentives
I understand that people bitterly oppose tolling roads. I really do. I was discussing congestion pricing the other day with one of my co-workers. I told her that if I were dictator, the...
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